Losing A Loved One

The Reason For My Faith ^ | 2/10/21 | Chuck Ness

[OneVike]

Yesterday I was informed by a friend that they lost a close loved one. However he knows that his loved one is with our Lord, because those, like my friend and I, are all promised that if we put our faith in Christ, then to be absent from the world means we are Present with our Lord.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8

I understand the grief one feels iover the loss of a loved one who did not believe in Christ. I have lost friends and family members who were not Christians. Grieving their loss is appropriate, since they are lost forever, and thus you will never see them again. However, as Christians, we have a promise. The promise of the cross, and the ressurection. So, for my Christian friends, I usually share this analogy with them to help them realize that they should rejoice, because they are in a better place.

If you are planning to go across country with a loved one, but they change their plans and leave ahead of time. You know you cannot leave yet, but you do know you will be leaving at another time. You also know that your loved one will be there to greet you when you arrive.

This is no different than if a beloved Christian friend, or family member, died before you. While we do feel sorrow for the absence of their physical body, we should not grieve their departure. I say departure instead of loss, because we know exactly where they are.

So why would we want to be so sorrowful knowing they are where we wish we could be? Would you be sorrowful if your loved one or good friend went to Hawaii on a vacation, but there was no way to contact them? You know they are having the time of their life, and soon you will be reunited with them. You just cannot communicate with them.

Well, know this dear sisters and brothers, your saved friends and loved ones who departed this destination before you, are truly having the time of their existence. An existence which will last an eternity with no pain, no sorrow, and no end. An existence we all, as Christians, long for. So why be sorrowful? Please feel joy for their early departure, knowing they just arrived at their desired destination a tad bit earlier than you will.

So instead of crying, we should do as my friend told me he is doing. Singing a song of joy, because his loved one's pain and suffering has ended. Knowing they are where we too wish to be, we should feel good for them, and not sorry for ourselves. As Christians we should be looking at life and death the way the Apostles did, who gave their all. Up to, and including death, to preach the Gospel. Never once considering the sorrow our death would bring to others.

I believe this is one of the reasons Christianity is failing so badly in the United Staes today. We do not project much faith we will ever see our loved ones again. We need to understand that with a sacrificial mindset, we and our fellow Christians will look forward to the day we die. Especially if our death comes from spreading the Gospel. For what good is my faith, if we are unwilling to sacrifice that which this world has to offer for it? After all, what is better, to be in the World with all the agony and misery, or to be in the present of God for an eternity of bliss?

I have always been fascinated by the way some practice funeral processions in New Orleans. They are having a party. With musical instruments, singing, and dancing as they move on down the road to the cemetery to bury their loved ones body. They do so, because they are joyful that one of their own is heading to be with Christ. They realize that this World is full of suffering and death, yet in that death there is release from the suffering. If you are a child of Christ, and your loved one was also, then maybe you should have a good feeling in your heart that their misery and suffering is over.

Below is an old pop song from the early 1960's by the The Cavaliers called, "Oh Where Can My Baby Be". The guy is sad, because the love of his life has died in a car accident. Yet he knows she has gone to heaven. Thus he has to be good, so he can see his baby when he leaves this World. When you think about it, we all want to see our loved ones who left before us, but if they are in a better place, then we should be desirous to be with them there.

Well, the only way to see those you know are in heaven is for you to also give your heart, soul, and mind to Christ. Just ask, in Jesus name, for our Father in heaven to forgive you of your sinful life. Then when you leave this old World, you will see your loved one's who just took the early flight.

I pray that those who have ears to hear will hear His voice and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

[glimmerman70]

Praise GOD. And I pray GOD blesses you all and all involved and all that praises GOD.

[Maudeen]

AMEN! I do the prayer list for our church and receive e-mail notices from area funeral homes. For the past few years I am witnessing more and more no church affiliation is given, no mention of the Lord. This could be due to the person writing the obituary that finds faith in God not important. . .pet dogs and cats are usually mentioned . . . the deceased was a private believer or a non-believer. We have work to do to tell the world Jesus loves them and there is hope in Jesus. I lost both of my parents in the same year almost 10 years ago. God saw me through it and I hold to the wonderful memories. I can’t imagine thinking of how I would feel if I didn’t know they were believers. https://www.thereishopeinjesus.com/

[OneVike]

Amen. My heart is warmed by the friends and family member I know who were saved and are now with Jesus.

Yet I am saddened by the many who were not saved, and thus the only memory I have of them is what I have as I am alive. Once I am gone, all sorrow and pain is gone, so there will be no memory of the lost, since that would bring sorrow knowing they were in hell. Thus, those memories will be erased.

[crusher]

This winter Mrs. Crusher and I each lost our remaining parent. Though there is sadness at our temporary separation, there is much greater joy in celebrating their lives and particularly the faith they lived out before us and introduced us to. As I said many years ago at my father’s funeral, “How great is it to be him right about now!”

[OneVike]

As I said many years ago at my father’s funeral, “How great is it to be him right about now!”

Yes I agree. I knew many good Christians who have skipped out on all the fun stuff we get to suffer through.

I told my wife a few weeks ago, who knows, maybe God will suddenly take us home in the flash of an eye blink and we can skip all the nonsense.

[HarleyD]

Isaiah 57:1 The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart;
And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from evil,
2 He enters into peace;
They rest in their beds,
Each one who walked in his upright way.

Right on. I've instructed my wife there is to be no funeral. Just a small memorial service with joyful songs that I've already picked out. We miss dear believing love ones but it's only a small time when we will be join them before the Lamb's feast.

"I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Not "I was..."

[boatbums]

I understand the grief one feels over the loss of a loved one who did not believe in Christ. I have lost friends and family members who were not Christians. Grieving their loss is appropriate, since they are lost forever, and thus you will never see them again.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, I know that when my loved ones who were in Christ have died I rejoice that we WILL be together for eternity with the Lord. But for those who have rejected Christ there is a hopeless grief because I know they are eternally lost. It's a subject I don't see discussed very often. My consolation has been that God loved them much more than I ever could and the Holy Spirit was always drawing them to the light of God's grace. I cannot know what was in their hearts at the time of their death but I trust that God's will is that all come to repentance and faith - though He will not force anyone. That they willfully rejected that love and grace and will bear the sole responsibility for their eternity is heartbreaking to accept.

I can understand the attraction with some sects that have come up with the doctrine of "annihilation" or the belief that lost souls only suffer separation from God for a period of time but then just cease to exist. It's the idea that hell is not forever - reasoning that God is loving and would not torment anyone for all eternity. It is a false doctrine, however, which does not have Scriptural support. Nobody wants to live with the idea that someone they love is suffering in hell forever because of their unbelief. What I trust is the lovingkindness of Almighty God and "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He. (Deut. 32:4)

[OneVike]

Amen, and very well stated.

[OneVike]

I have decided when I die, that I want the pastor I chose, to turn my funeral into a sermon to bring those who loved me enough to attend to be given the chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

I want no eulogy, other than to let everyone know I loved Jesus and gave all I could, but wished I had given more.

Otherwise, make my funeral one big revival so others can be invited to share in the joys I have been blessed with.